How WWE Should Have Pushed Ryback

I think what the WWE has done recently with Ryback was a horrible mistake. The WWE had the next Goldberg and the fans were growing behind that whole idea. They chanted Goldberg whenever Ryback came out, and it was obviously to say this guy is a Goldberg rip-off but I think if the WWE had played their cards right they could have actually had the next Goldberg on their hands and Ryback could have surpassed Goldberg. 

The undefeated streak was the key part of this plan however. I would have had Ryback continue crushing jobbers and mid-carders. I would have had him come out and talk in the ring and address the Goldberg comparison and his own undefeated streak. I would have had them put up a scoreboard on the big screen to keep track of Ryback's wins. They wouldn't pad the stats as much as WCW did with Goldberg, whenever he ran out and speared anyone WCW counted it as a win, and the number would go up without any mention, one week it would be 67 the next week it would be 74 without any mention of how it got there. I would have Ryback's more legitimate, but still try to push it up as high as possible. Have them show highlights before his matches of his wins from house-shows, the same way TNA shows highlights of the Bound For Glory Series matches that weren't televised. You need to show how all the points were earned. I would count everyone he defeated not just matches, so if he can beat guys two at a time that should count for two instead of one. 

The idea behind this is to try and push his record up to the same level as Goldberg's by Wrestlemania. 

In keeping with the Goldberg model, I would have Ryback go after the United States Championship because that was Goldberg's first Championship. I would have Ryback be the American that finally defeated the current US Champion Antonia Cesaro and win the Championship. I would then have Ryback start defending his title in every match, putting his title and his streak on the line every night. It would build up his matches and they could start having bigger mid-card stars challenge him for the title, former United States and Intercontinental Champions. 

You could have him win the Intercontinental Championship instead of the United States Championship but I think it would be better to follow the Goldberg model.  

As the streak grew and the number got higher I would like to see more variety of endings to his matches than just the same finisher. I would like to see Ryback win matches by every possible outcome. His opponents would run away in fear and get counted out. His opponents would be forced to cheat and hit Ryback with a chair or any other weapon because they couldn't beat him and they would be disqualified. I would like to see Ryback win by submission, I would have an opponent with a submission hold challenge Ryback to a submission match thinking this would give him an advantage, only to have Ryback debut a devastating submission hold of his own and win the match. This would give his character more depth. 

I would try to find a way to have Ryback drop the title without actually losing a match. Make it a triple threat match and have Ryback put through a table or something and have the other two in the ring for the end of the match, with the one pinning the other so Ryback wasn't actually part of the finish, technically he wouldn't be the one that lost the match and his streak would continue.

At this point I would have him win the Intercontinental Championships, I would also have him find a Tag-Team partner and win the Tag-Team Championships. It would be very easy to have his partner be the one that lost the match and say that this also didn't affect his undefeated streak. He would blame his partner for the loss and they would turn on each other. By now Ryback would have won all the mid-card titles and would be ready to move up to the main event. 

Again, I would find a way for Ryback to drop the IC Title but try to come up with something different. Maybe have the stipulation that a count out or disqualification would cost him the title. Then have someone interfere in the match and attack Ryback outside the ring causing him to be counted out. It could then be argued that Ryback was still undefeated because he had never been pinned or made to submit. 

I would have this be right at the end of the year right before Wrestlemania. I would have the guy that came out and attacked Ryback to cost him the IC Title and suffer his first count out loss be none other than Goldberg. I would like the streak to be exactly tied with Goldberg at this point, and Goldberg ran out to cost Ryback his match and his streak just to make sure Ryback didn't pass Goldberg's streak. This would set them up for a huge match at Wrestlemania. If Goldberg can pin Ryback or make him submit then Ryback would suffer his first actual defeat, but if Ryback could defeat Goldberg he would finally move out of Goldberg's shadow and prove he is actually better than Goldberg. 

Since its a one off match, Goldberg would only be back for that Wrestlemania match, obviously Ryback would win. You could even make it a career match since Goldberg will probably never wrestle anywhere after this. Have Ryback win the match. Have him destroy Goldberg and prove he is better. This would make Ryback the biggest star in the wrestling business, the next monster, the next unstoppable force.

Its at this point that I would make Ryback move up to the main event. I would have Ryback win the Money In The Bank. I would also like to see him win the King Of The Ring and the Royal Rumble. 

I would probably already have had Ryback win the King Of The Ring since its not a main event or major deal anymore. He could have won that back when he was United States or Intercontinental Champion. 

Now that he is main event ready I would have him win the Money In The Bank and cash it in right away and win the World Championship. Have him be the Champion on Smackdown first. Start him out small on the second show with the second most important title. Also the title Goldberg held. If possible, have Ryback win Money In The Bank and the World Championship before Wrestlemania and make his match with Goldberg also for the World Championship. 

I think it is at this point that Ryback's streak should finally come to an official end. I would like to see a major star end his streak and have it be a big deal. I think the best choice to end it would be the Big Show. But another obvious choice would be if he lasted all the way to Wrestlemania again to have him face the Undertaker in a streak vs streak match. I also think Ryback needs to face Brock Lesnar and that would be a huge Wrestlemania match. They should also try to bring Batista back to face Ryback, any monster like that would be a huge match for Ryback. 

But assuming Batista wouldn't come back, or Brock Lesnar wouldn't do another match, or the Undertaker retires or doesn't want to face Ryback, the Big Show is still powerful enough to believably put an end to Ryback's streak. 

Afterwards, I would have Ryback turn around the next year and win the Royal Rumble and go to the main event of Wrestlemania and challenge for the WWE Championship and win. He would be the new face of the WWE and he would dominate as the WWE Champion. 

I would have Ryback beat as many major stars as possible. All the big names. I would bring back as many as I could, bring in as many stars from other promotions as possible. Ryback would beat them all.